1. Field of the Invention
My invention is directed toward air flow systems for heating and cooling spaces. My system is further directed toward such systems which withdraw air from the space, condition it by heating or cooling, and then return the conditioned air to the space. My invention is further directed toward such systems and conditioning where the direction of the air flow within the air conveying means is in one direction during the heating cycle and in the opposite direction during the cooling cycle. My invention is further directed toward such systems where one end of the air conveying and conditioning means is positioned in the floor or in the wall close to the floor and the other end of the air conveying means is positioned in the ceiling or in a wall near the ceiling and where the air is withdrawn from the top of the room, heated and discharged near the bottom of the room during the heating cycle, and where, through the same ducts, but with reversed air flow, the air is withdrawn from the bottom of the room and discharged near the top of the room during the cooling cycle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
All systems for heating and cooling known to the inventor which utilize air to convey the heating or cooling effect to a space, employ ducts and air inlets and air outlets through which the air direction is invariant. Examples of such prior art systems employed for both heating and cooling are set forth in the following chapters of the 1980 "Systems" Handbook published by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers: Chapter 3, "All Air Systems"; Chapter 11, "Applied Heat Pump Systems"; Chapter 12, "Forced Air Systems". The reference does suggest at page 12.3 that cooling results will be best if the air is discharged high in the room and heating results will be best if the air is discharged low in the room.
Though the reference discloses complex duct arrangements with dual sets of outlets, some positioned high for cooling which remain unused during heating, others positioned low for heating which remain unused during cooling, and dampers to select the proper outlets for the desired function, the direction of the air in the ducts is always unidirectional and no outlet for one function ever functions as an inlet for the other function. By contrast, my invention discloses a simple duct system which need not require any dampers at all, but by the use of a reversible fan, secures the desired superior performance in the distribution of cooled air through vents placed high in the room; distribution of warm air through vents placed low in the room, and achieves these superior results at low cost without the costly provision of extra ducts and outlets, some of which always remain unused.